Film Financing For Indies

It seems like every other day lately, a new Film Fund pops up
backed by $100 million or so in capital by a group of investors.

What does this really mean?

What it means is that rich investors out there, looking for
new places to invest their money, bring their capital
together and commit it to a company who can finance various
films - companies who know what they're doing and can bring back
solid returns to the investors.

I'll give you a recent example. A group of investors called
American Capital Group recently committed $100 million to a
newly-formed company called Oceana Media Finance that provides
financing for the production and marketing of independent
feature films.

Oceana Media Finance is headed by someone who has many years
experience closing financing deals for independent films. So
it makes sense that American Capital would entrust their money
with them.

Oceana Media Finance provides financing for production
budgets between $10 and $40 million, and they offer 4 types
of financing which are all secured by the rights and cash
flows of the film.

1. Pre-Production loans
2. Gap Loans
3. P&A Financing
4. Equity investments (although to a lesser extent)

This is very common for most of the new independent film
financing companies that are popping up. Most of them provide
these same sorts of financing to filmmakers and production
companies, and secure their investments with the rights to
your film and/or cash flow that comes in via distribution
deals.

Notice that most of these new independent film financing
companies focus on budgets of at least $10 million. I've
seen some filmmakers get around this by seeking financing
for a small slate of films (maybe 4 or 5), that in aggregate
equal $10 million. So you could always try that route if
appropriate to your situation.

I still think that if you're going to finance your film
yourself, then definitely stick to a budget of $250K or less,
so you have a good chance of making that money back and paying
off your credit cards.

However, if you are going to take advantage of this new wave
of independent film financing by investor groups, dust off
that business plan, hire a new casting director to get your
film cast with bankable names, and dive in....before it all
comes to a screeching halt! Who knows though, this new wave of
independent film financing may last for years....

Until next time~

Stacey*
http://www.FilmSpecific.com